The present invention relates generally to the field of mailing machine, and more particularly to mailing machines incorporating postage meters having an ink jet printer for printing postage indicia on mail pieces.
Mailing machines for printing postage indicia on envelopes and other forms of mail pieces have long been well known and have enjoyed considerable commercial success, both in the U.S. Postal Service and in industry mail rooms and private office environments. Generally speaking, there are many different types of mailing machines, ranging from relatively small units which handle only one mail piece at a time to large, multi-functional units which can separate, feed, weigh, print postage indicia on and stack hundreds of mail pieces per hour in a continuous stream operation. Thus, the modern mailing machine plays an important role in facilitating the rapid and efficient movement and other handling of mail.
Mailing machines have traditionally been capable of printing postage indicia either directly on mail pieces, or on pieces of tape, which are then attached to mail pieces. Typically, the mailing machine is set to print the postage indicia on envelopes as they are fed seriatim along a feed deck by a suitable feeding mechanism, the printing operation being carried out by a printing device which is part of a postage meter component of the mailing machine. The postage meter component has various control devices by which it can be set to print a predetermined amount of postage, together with other settable information, such as a date, within a pre-set design, the selectable information and the pre-set design all constituting the aforementioned postage indicia.
In traditional mailing machines, the printing device of the postage meter consists of a printing die having a surface which is embossed in the image pattern of the postage indicia, an inking device which applies ink to the image surface of the printing die, and a suitable means for bring the appropriate surface of the mail piece into contact with the printing die so as to transfer ink from the die to the surface of the mail piece. Typically, there are two forms of postage meter printing devices, the rotary, in which the printing die is curved and is mounted on a rotating drum, and the image receiving surface of the envelope is brought into contact with the printing die by feeding the mail piece between the printing die and back up roller which constitutes part of the feeding mechanism of the mailing machine. The other form of printing device, the flat bed, utilizes a flat, stationary printing die, and the mail piece is fed to an appropriate position over the platen and is momentarily stopped in that position while the platen assembly moves to press the image receiving surface of the mail piece against the printing die.
Regardless of which type of printing device is utilized in the postage meter, it is often necessary to print the postage indicia on a strip of tape, either gummed or adhesive backed, because it is not possible to feed the mail piece on which it is desired to apply a postage indicia through the mailing machine. In many situations, for example, the mail piece may be too thick to be fed through the normal feeding path of the mailing machine, or it may be too large in area, or it may contain delicate material which could be damaged by the pressure exerted by the printing device of the postage meter. For whatever, reason, there are numerous occasions in the normal operating situations of a mailing machine, where the postage indicia simply cannot be applied direction to the mail piece and must be applied to a strip of tape which is then suitably adhered to the mail piece.
In typically heretofore known mailing machines, there is only one printing position in the mailing machine, which is where the printing die is located. The printing device is in a fixed position relative to the mailing machine, regardless of whether the printing device is of the rotary or flat bed type, that position being determined either by the arcuate path of movement of the rotary printing die or the fixed position of the flat bed printing die. Since the position of the printing die in the printing device determines the printing position, it is therefore necessary to move either the mail piece or the strip of tape to the printing position for printing a postage indicia thereon. This presents no problem with respect to printing postage indicia on mail pieces because the architecture of the mailing machine is typically built around the movement of mail pieces through the mailing machine.
The problem that arises with traditional mailing machines is that when it is desired to print the postage indicia on a piece of tape rather than directly on a mail piece, it is necessary to move the tape from a standby position to a printing position within the mailing machine. Typically, the tape is stored in the form of a large roll, and a feeding mechanism is provided to feed an appropriate length of tape to accept the postage indicia. However, in order to print the postage indicia on the tape, the portion thereof on which printing is to take place must be moved, usually laterally of the direction of feed of the tape, from a standby position in which tape is disposed out of the normal feed path of mail pieces moving through the mailing machine, to a printing position in which the portion of the tape on which the indicia is to be printed is disposed in the normal feeding path of the mail pieces, so that portion of the tape is now in the printing position of the postage meter printing device.
It should be apparent from the foregoing that considerably complex mechanical structure for guiding the tape along its feed path and through the printing position in the case of a rotary printing device, or for holding the tape securely in a fixed position in the case of a flat bed printing device, coupled with necessary electrical controls, are all required to move a predetermined section of tape from the standby position to the printing position. The complexity of this structure is further complicated by the fact that only an intermediary portion of the tape on which printing takes place is moved laterally, since the storage roll and input feeding devices cannot be shifted, nor can the output feeding devices, a severing device and the ejection station from which the printed and severed piece of tape is retrieved by the operator. The complexity of this structure greatly increases the cost of mailing machines that print postage indicia either on mail pieces or on tape, and also increases the likelihood of breakdowns and service calls. These factors can be decisive to a customer in the selection of a mailing machine with or without the capability of printing postage indicia on tape.
Thus, it should be apparent that a mailing machine which has the capability of printing postage indicia on tape as well as directly on mail pieces without the necessity of moving the tape laterally from a standby position to a printing position would have considerable commercial advantage over currently available mailing machines in which this lateral movement of the tape is inherent, and would represent a major advancement in future mailing machine design.